Ransom for a Time Lady
by scgirl-317
Summary: Post "Journey's End." The TARDIS kicks the Doctor out and into an alien market, where he runs into a familiar face. Before they can have a joyful reunion, however, trouble strikes, and the Doctor has to save her before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ransom for a Time Lady

Author: scgirl_317

Summary: The TARDIS kicks the Doctor out and into an alien market, where he runs into a familiar face. Before they can have a joyful reunion, however, trouble strikes, and the Doctor has to save her before it's too late.

Author's Note: JE left the Doctor all by himself, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a depressed Doctor. Steven Moffat made the brilliant decision to revive Jenny at the end of "The Doctor's Daughter" with the intent of bringing her back later in the series (something I still hope for because she's thoroughly awesome). In the meantime, I thought I'd use her to perk the Doctor up in the aftermath of JE.

A/N 2: Huge thanks to Tari, who helped me get unstuck when I felt like I was spinning my wheels on this story. She helped me solidify plot points and clarify bits that felt vague to me. She just might be crazier than me, so that makes brainstorming with her all the more fun!

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><p>It was quiet. Too quiet. Even the TARDIS seemed melancholy, her hum pitched lower than usual. She had tried to comfort the Doctor after they left Donna, but in truth, she missed the snarky redhead too. In the aftermath of defeating Davros and the Daleks, everything had happened so fast, but now it was starting to hit. Martha was off living her own life, joined by Mickey, interestingly enough; Jack was rebuilding what remained of Torchwood Three after it had been attacked by the Daleks; Rose was living her life in Pete's World with the Metacrisis Doctor; Sarah Jane had returned to her son; Donna was oblivious that he even existed. Once again he was alone with his thoughts.<p>

And they were bleak thoughts, indeed. Maybe Davros had been right. Maybe he did turn people into weapons. The TARDIS hummed angrily in response to this, mad at him for even considering such a thing. If anything, he made people better. Just look at Jack: the Doctor had turned him from confidence games to saving the earth. Things could have ended much differently if he hadn't been there when the Doctor had been shot.

The TARDIS knew she had to do something to distract the Doctor before his thoughts turned much darker. With that in mind, she set off through the Vortex, throwing the Doctor to the grating of the control room as she flew. Several planets would fit her purpose, but she was drawn to one by a timeline she hadn't noticed before and she knew the Doctor hadn't even considered. That was where she needed to take him, and she landed discreetly in an empty alleyway. It took several rather forceful mental nudges, but she eventually got the Doctor off the floor and out the door, but not before receiving several colorful Gallifreyan curses.

Once outside, the Doctor took a moment to look around. The TARDIS had landed on Picon 3, a planet that was made up of a single city, most of which was a sort of market place. Specialty products from over a dozen planets could be found here. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, the Doctor made his way down the street, passing vendors without really seeing them.

He didn't really want to be there, but the TARDIS had made it clear she didn't want him back until he was in a better frame of mind. She was sad enough without his depression adding to it. His face creased in a frown at this. He had been so caught up in his own melancholy that he hadn't even noticed the TARDIS had been upset as well. She had loved Rose almost as much as he had, in her own way—always humming cheerfully when the pink and yellow girl was on board—and she had been quite fond of Donna, as well. She had taken a while to warm to Martha, but even the med student had been okay eventually. Then, of course, there was Jack, Mickey, and Sarah Jane. The TARDIS had had to say goodbye to so many of her favorite people recently, and the Doctor hadn't even tried to comfort her because he was so busy wallowing in his own grief.

That would not do. The two of them had been through too much together for him to abandon her like that. He couldn't shut her out. She was now all he had left in the universe, literally. He knew he would never fully recover from what had happened, but he could at least cling to her, and together they would keep their lost loved ones alive in their memory. Deciding to take at least some interest in the market and people around him, he began to look to see if there was anything that the TARDIS might like—an olive branch, as it were.

He had been out for almost an hour when a flash of blonde caught his eye. His hearts clenched as he thought of bringing Rose to a similar market, right before the Battle of Canary Wharf. Almost against his will, his eyes sought out the blonde head, and saw its owner discussing a brightly colored sarong-type article of clothing with a vendor. Something the seller said made her laugh, and the lilting sound drifted over to him, rooting his feet in place. Memories of tunnels, a laser grid, and a seven-day war drifted to the front of his mind, but as much as he might wish it otherwise, the blonde was not his daughter. Jenny was yet another person he had lost.

Knowing that standing there was not doing him any good, the Doctor swallowed past the watermelon-sized lump in his throat and turned to walk away. However, she turned first.

He had finally snapped. That was the only explanation he could come up with for what he saw. He had reached the maximum that a Time Lord mind could handle, and he was losing it. She was dead. She had jumped in the way when Cobb tried to shoot him. He had left her body on Messaline to be interred by the human and Hath soldiers-turned-colonists. He kept repeating this to himself as her face lit up at seeing him and she turned and ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him when she was within reach.

"Dad!" she whispered, and he could feel his neck getting wet from her happy tears, he could feel the weight of her hanging on his neck, he could feel the slightly-cooler-than-human temperature of a Time Lord radiating from her body.

He could feel the physical evidence of her being there, but his head refused to believe it. Jenny could feel his hesitation and drew back, concern written all over her face.

"Dad, it's me, Jenny," she said. "Don't you remember me?"

"Of course I remember you, you're my daughter," he replied adamantly, struggling to maintain his voice.

"Then what's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked, fighting the tears forming in her eyes.

"You're dead," he answered, shaking his head as his voice cracked; on top of everything else, he really didn't think he could deal with seeing his dead daughter. Maybe it was finally time to call it quits.

"No, no, I came back," she argued, grabbing him as he moved to step away. "After you left, I don't know exactly what happened, but I came back to life. I took one of the shuttles from the ship and started traveling, just like you. Hoping I'd find you again, at some point."

As she spoke, his mind ventured out, automatically seeking out some familiar presence. He was still close enough to feel a faint hum from the TARDIS, but a second presence made itself known. It was unfocused, but it was the distinct feel of a Time Lord mind. He had been too busy before to realize that she had acquired his mental abilities as well as his second heart. She probably didn't know, either, but there would be time for that later.

Several tears escaped as he pulled her into bone-crushing hug. He wasn't sure if he could fully accept her as his daughter again, but right then, he didn't care. For once, the universe had given something back to him, instead of just taking.

Eventually, he managed to reign in his emotions and pull back and look at her properly. Her hair was a little darker and longer, and she wore a white button-up blouse, khaki cropped pants, and sandals instead of the soldier's fatigues she had been "born" in. The sparkle in her eye remained, though.

"You look fantastic," he said with a warm smile, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

"Thanks," she replied, taking in his features in return. He looked older than she remembered, as if he had aged several years in the months it had been since she had last seen him. She kept this to herself, though, somehow knowing it was not something he particularly wanted to talk about. She wasn't sure how she knew, she just did.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked instead.

"My ship kicked me out," he said. "Long story, but I haven't been in the best of moods lately, so she came here and kicked me out until I was in a better mood."

"Your _ship_ kicked you out?"

"To be honest, I can't really blame her," he shrugged.

"There is so much I have to learn about you," Jenny said in awe.

"No time like the present. I know a little café not too far that has the best milkshakes in this galaxy," he suggested, offering his arm, which she took eagerly, slinging her bag over her other shoulder.

Across the street, both Time Lords were unaware they were being observed. The man watched as they headed down to a small café, reporting their location to his partner over his communicator. They would follow and watch and wait for their opportunity to move in. If there was anything their past endeavors had taught them, it was patience.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor sipped on his banana milkshake as Jenny told him about her adventures since their parting. There were more than a few blunders as she tried to find her footing, but she seemed to be taking it all in stride, well aware that she had much to learn about traveling the universe. She seemed to have inherited his tendency to stumble into trouble; he couldn't help his smile as she related being chased off a planet for wearing an orange shirt.

"Sounds like you've been busy," he said, stirring the milkshake with the straw.

"Just trying to do what you always do," she shrugged with a grin, finishing off her chocolate milkshake. "So what about you? Where are Donna and Martha?"

The Doctor paused, frowning as recent events came flooding back to his mind. He didn't know if he was ready to talk about what had happened. He returned his attention to the remains of his milkshake.

"They went home," he answered, and that was true enough.

Jenny knew there was more to it than he was saying, and images flashed in her mind. Terrible images that were unsettling at best.

"I had heard that several planets had disappeared, but I didn't think such a thing was possible," she said softly, eyes unfocused as the images continued. "The three-fold man and his children of time reunited to save all of reality. A farewell on a beach. The death of the most faithful friend, condemned to live the rest of her life without knowing the debt reality owes her."

Tears streamed down her face as the Doctor's memories continued to flash before her, weighed down with more emotion than she would have believed possible. The shear enormity of the grief he bore was enough to smother her. This is what he meant when he said Time Lords were a shared suffering, it had to be.

The Doctor sat frozen in his seat. There was no way she could know these things unless she had been inside his mind, but he would have felt the intrusion. Well, she might have picked up on a few things if he had let his mental barriers slip, but this was far more than an empathic response. There was no doubt that she was seeing his memories. Her Time Lord telepathy was more developed than he had imagined.

A small part of him rejoiced; he was no longer the last of the Time Lords! If he had been unsure about taking Jenny along in the TARDIS, he was decided now. He had a responsibility to teach her all he could about her heritage. It would be a far cry from an education at the Academy, but he would do the best he could.

Not wanting to make her suffer more than she already had by his memories, he shifted his thoughts to more pleasant things. Now that he was aware of her presence, he was able to guide her to what he wanted to show her. He led her to a door in his mind that glistened like mother-of-pearl, and pushed it open to reveal a wide field of red grass beneath an amber sky. Silver trees shimmered in the distance, and farther off stood the crystal dome of the Citadel of the Time Lords.

_This was my home_, he gently told Jenny as she took in the sight before her. _This is how I choose to remember Gallifrey, in its golden age._

_It's beautiful_, she whispered, in awe of the beauty of this strange world. _Where is it?_

Her question was innocent enough, but it still made him wince. _It's gone_, he said. _It burned in the Time War. This is the only place it exists now, in my memories._

Jenny was at a loss for words, so she simply took his hand. Slowly, the Doctor led her back out of his mind, and they were once more in the small café. Her tears had stopped, but her eyes still glistened.

"_That's_ who the Time Lords are," he told her. "That and so much more."

She simply nodded, the weight of his words settling in.

"So," he said, suddenly shifting gears and leaving the heaviness of their previous conversation behind, "shall we go get your things?"

"I'm sorry?" she asked, scrambling to catch up with his change of topic.

"You still want to come with me, don't you?"

"You still want me to come with you?" she asked excitedly.

"Of course," he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh yes, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed, rounding the small table to throw her arms around him just as she had in the tunnel with him and Donna. "I promise I'll learn anything you wish to teach me, and I'll do my best to stay out of trouble, and I won't take up too much space."

"Trust me, that last one won't be a problem in the TARDIS," he said with a grin, looking forward to something for the first time in a while. "Come on, let's go get your things."

Practically bouncing with excitement, Jenny led the way out of the café and down the street to the spaceport where she had left her shuttle.

In her excitement, she dashed ahead, rounding a corner. Something triggered in the back of the Doctor's mind, alerting him to danger, and he hurried to catch up to her. By the time he reached to corner, however, it was too late.

Jenny was nowhere to be seen.

The Doctor's eyes scanned the busy street, examining each face in the hope of finding some indication of… something. He sniffed the air, sticking his tongue out to detect that slightly metallic twang left behind by a transmit beam. Nothing. That meant whoever had grabbed her had literally grabbed her. His brow furrowed as he tried to put together a plan of action.

"_Pst_."

The sound was so soft he might have missed it, except for his superior hearing. He swung around, searching for the speaker.

"Over here."

His eyes landed on a small Picon woman standing about fifteen feet away in the doorway of a posh-looking shop. Her clothes indicated she was lower class, employed by the shop, judging by the colors of her uniform matching the awning over the entrance. She furtively glanced around, as if afraid of being caught.

"You're looking for the pink and yellow girl?" she asked timidly.

"Yes, do you know what happened?" he pressed anxiously.

"She was taken. They have her," she said cryptically.

"Who has her? Why did they take her?" he continued, wanting answers but guessing he wouldn't get much from the skittish woman.

"She's an off-worlder, so they took her. They always take off-worlders. Don't want them to stay." Here she looked around again, even more afraid. "Who was she?"

"My daughter," he replied, putting the pieces together to form a slightly more cohesive image.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she whimpered before scurrying back inside the shop.

Well, at least he had somewhere to start, now. There was apparently a group opposed to off-worlders settling on Picon 3, and furthered their cause by kidnapping off-worlders right off the street. That meant that whoever it was had to have been following one or both of them for long enough to know that they weren't native; enough humans had settled on the planet over the past few hundred years that the two of them wouldn't have stood out right away. If they had been followed, that meant they had been targeted out of all the other off-worlders. And if they had been targeted, that meant there was something particular about them that this group wanted. Or it could have been a completely random selection and pure coincidence. Either way, he needed more information, and as much as he hated dealing with the police, they were the ones with the information.

Turning around, he set off at a dead run, dodging between people and carts, back to the TARDIS. He'd lost too many people, recently—already lost Jenny once. He wasn't going to lose her again.

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><p>The darkness slowly pulled away, and Jenny found she was tied to a metal chair. The large room she was being held in had a single door and no windows, being lit only by a single light hanging from the ceiling. The grim appearance reminded her of Messaline during the war.<p>

Her mind was still wired to be a soldier—though she had followed her father's example and chosen to do otherwise—and she immediately began searching for a way out. Each wrist was tied to the back of the chair, which seemed to be made of un-reinforced metal, meaning there were weak spots at the joints. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could leverage it against to break free.

Deciding it was best if she could at least move about more freely, she gripped the back of the chair and picked her feat up onto the seat. With some careful shifting, she was able to stand and step over the back of the chair. Yes, she had to carry the chair in front of her, which was awkward given the way her wrists were tied, but at least she could move about and could use the chair as a weapon if need be.

Her next move was to investigate the door. At first glance, it appeared to be simply a metal slab, but closer inspection revealed a magnetic lock sealing the edges. Even if she had the necessary tools, it would be hard to break through the seal. As it was, her only asset was her programming and a metal chair. It appeared her only option was to wait until someone came for her. Flattening herself against the wall by the door as best she could, she stood and waited.

She didn't have to wait long, though each second stretched into hours. A sharp clang announced the release of the seal, and the door slid out of the way. Jenny adjusted her grip on the chair and swung as hard as she could into the person entering.

The effect was just as desired and he rebounded from the hit, sprawling across the floor. Acting quickly, Jenny searched him as best she could with her hands restrained as they were. She lucked out, managing to weasel a pen knife out of his boot. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone else came looking, so she worked as fast as she could to sever the ties.

Once free, she hurried quietly down the corridor. There were no other rooms off of this leg of the hallway, but there was a bend several hundred feet from her cell. She slowed as she reached this turn, listening for anyone beyond. Not hearing anything, she continued on, brandishing the knife.

She had just enough time for déjà vu to set in as a jolt of electricity pulsed through her, sending her back into the blackness.

She came to ten minutes later. This time, she was shackled to a hook in the wall. The man she had assaulted with the chair now sat in it, arms crossed as he stared at her.

"You're not gonna get out of here that easy," he said. "You people come here and you think you can take over. You think we won't care that you overrun our government, our businesses, taking away the jobs and rights of the Picon people. Well, my people and I are going to put a stop to that."

Jenny knew he meant to be intimidating—and with anyone else, he would have been—but she could not stop herself from laughing.

"You think this is a joke?" he growled. "You're not getting out of this alive. The off-worlders need an example, and you're it."

"You're the one who's in trouble, mate," she shot back. "My dad will be here in no time, and when he gets here, you'd better pray he's in a forgiving mood."

"Others have talked like you do. 'My friends are coming, they will save me.' You won't be the last, either." Her jailor stood and walked back to the door, but turned back to say one last thing. "If you don't cause too much trouble, I'll make sure your death is quick."

Once again, Jenny was left alone. She tested the chain tethering her to the wall, but the bolt securing her was fastened tight. If she was going to get out, help was going to have to come to her.


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter is greatly due to Tari, who said that Jenny needed to get a glimpse of the Time Lord Victorious. She helped me solidify my ideas for this chapter._

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><p>The TARDIS faded into existence inside the courtyard of the police station, engine grinding as it settled into place. Engaging the hand brake, the Doctor dashed out of the blue box and into the building. He spotted the reception desk and made a beeline for it.<p>

"Hi, I'm John Smith, Special Investigations," he said, flashing the psychic paper. "I need to speak to whoever is in charge of investigating the off-worlder kidnappings."

"Yes, sir," the receptionist said, pressing a switch on her desk. "I have someone here from Special Investigations to see Jono Drake."

The Doctor did his best not to pace while waiting for Drake to arrive. He hated dealing with police, and he hated waiting for people, and he was currently forced to do both. The fact that the receptionist was giving him the most patronizing smiles did nothing to help. When Drake did arrive, it was all the Doctor could do not to yell in relief.

"Inspector Jono Drake," the small man introduced himself. "You're here about the recent kidnappings?"

"Yes, in particular, that of a young woman, this morning," the Doctor replied. "The incident follows the pattern of the off-worlder kidnappings. I need to see everything you have on this group."

Drake looked at him through narrow eyes, "What exactly makes this a Special Investigations matter?"

"Look here, the woman who was taken is my daughter," the Doctor snapped, not in the mood to put up with any bureaucratic nonsense. "I'll find her without your help, if I have to, but you do not want to stand in my way."

Drake seemed to get the idea, but it was clear he still had reservations. With a sigh, he turned and led the Doctor back to his office.

One thin folder was all Drake had on fourteen kidnappings. The man was either that incompetent, or these guys were that good. The Doctor tended to think it was both. It took him all of ten minutes to go over the papers with a fine-tooth comb, and there was little in there that he hadn't figured out from the shop girl.

With a frustrated sigh, the Doctor left and returned to the TARDIS. He knew he needed to act quickly; if the kidnappers followed their pattern, they'd keep Jenny for a few more hours before killing her. The police had been next to useless. They had no idea where this group operated out of, who their leader was, or how many of them there were. The Doctor had flown blindly into unknown and dangerous situations before, and he had no qualms about doing it again, but he did need to know _where_ he was going. He didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

He let out an angry growl. This was not going to happen again. He was not going to lose anyone else. If the locals couldn't—or wouldn't—help him, he'd find Jenny himself. Flipping a few switches on the TARDIS console, he began going over his options. The one that stood out as having the greatest chance at succeeding left much to be desired, but it was all he had.

The one factor he had going for him was that Jenny's Time Lord biology made her unique to every other being on the planet, except himself, of course. If he had something with her specific genetic pattern, he could set the TARDIS's sensors to hone in on her. That's when he remembered her shuttle. Her clothes and other things should be covered in her DNA, giving him a "scent" he could track.

Not wanting to waste any more time than was necessary, he set the controls to land the TARDIS at the space port. Quickly getting his bearings, he headed to the overseer's office. He hoped this person proved more useful than the inspector.

"Can I help you, sir?" asked the portly gentleman sitting behind the counter.

"Yes, I'm looking for a shuttle that came in, within the last few days," the Doctor replied, trying to remain level-headed.

"Planet of origin?" the overseer asked, already pulling up the records on his computer.

"Messaline," answered the Doctor, after a moment's thought.

"Ah, here we go. A Class-B shuttle registered from Messaline came in two days ago."

"Great! Can you tell me where it's docked?"

"Can you tell me what business you have with a decrepit, one-man shuttle?" the overseer countered, eyeing the Doctor curiously.

It was enough to make some of the Doctor's control slip, and he lunged across the counter and grabbed the man by his collar.

"Listen, I've had a really bad time of it, recently. The girl who came in that shuttle is my daughter, and she's been taken, and the only way I have to find her is that shuttle. You really don't want to get in my way, right now."

The overseer visibly shrunk in the wake of the Doctor's anger, his tone and the look in his eye enough to make even the strongest man whither.

"Tier 23, third level down," he answered quickly.

"Thank you," the Doctor replied, releasing him and heading back out.

The docks were well labeled, so getting lost wasn't a problem, but tier 23 was on the other side of the vast space port. It seemed an eternity, but he finally found tier 23, and he took the stairs leading down to the third level three at a time.

The sonic screwdriver had the hatch unlocked in seconds, and he immediately began looking for something that would produce a viable sample of Jenny's DNA. He found an old hair brush that had no doubt seen better days, but he was more interested in the blonde hairs he saw woven through the bristles. He shoved the brush in his pocket, closed he shuttle back up, and ran back to the TARDIS.

Once back, he entered Jenny's genetic code into the TARDIS computer. Tracking someone by their DNA was hardly a swift method, the process only allowing the computer to analyze individual genetic codes at a time, but it was his only option. It only took seconds to scan each individual, but with the number of people that it could take to find Jenny, it could potentially take hours. He prayed she had that long.

After what felt like hours—but was only about thirty minutes—the TARDIS alerted him to a match. She had narrowed Jenny's location down to within a 200 meter radius, so he a least knew where to start looking. He flipped a few switches, dancing around the console as he directed the ship to land at the coordinates she had found.

After making sure that there was no one around, he quietly emerged from the TARDIS into what looked like part of an abandoned warehouse. However, signs of recent activity let him know he was on the right track. Now, to find exactly where Jenny was in this labyrinth.

He decided to take advantage of Jenny's newly revealed mental capabilities. Taking a breath, he dug down to that long empty place in his mind where the Time Lords had once lived. The quiet there was unnerving; but instead of dead silence, there was a faint hum. He focused on the hum, and turned to the door to his left.

He went down a long hallway, passing rooms stacked with weapons and supplies, enough to stage a small war. He made a mental note to deal with them after he had found Jenny. He continued on, following the hum as it got stronger. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that it was far too empty and he was probably walking into a trap.

Finally, he came to a door at the end of another hallway. He swiftly pulled out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked the door. Slowly, in case there was someone inside waiting for him, he pushed the door open. He couldn't help he sigh of relief that escaped when he saw Jenny there, although his expression darkened considerably when he saw her red wrists shackled to the wall. Moving swiftly, he crossed the room and knelt by her side, immediately sonicing the chains loose.

"I knew you'd come!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck as soon as she was free.

"I'll always do everything in my power to come back for you," he promised her. "Let's get out of here."

The Doctor pulled Jenny to her feet, and they ran hand-in-hand back the way he had come. About halfway back to the TARDIS, he stopped and entered one of the weapons storage areas. All of the weapons were stored in a relatively central location, and he knew that all he had to do was set off an explosion in one, and it would start a chain reaction. It would undoubtedly take out the entire building and kill anyone inside, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

He immediately set to work configuring a remotely activated detonator. Jenny stood back, watching him as he worked. The military training that she had been generated with told her what he was doing; the fact that it was the same man who refused to shoot Cobb after the colonel had killed her scared her more than anything.

"Dad, what are you doing?" she asked, even though she knew.

"I can't let these people continue to terrorize this world," he said in a low voice as he worked.

"You're going to kill anyone in the building," she continued.

"So be it."

The finality with which he said it silenced her, and as he finished working, she wondered what had happened since Messaline that would turn him into the hard man she now saw.

"Let's go," he said, arming the detonator and leaving the room.

Jenny followed him silently as he ran back to the TARDIS. She paused for a second when the blue box came into view; she remembered seeing the strange box in the tunnels after she had been created, but she hadn't really paid it any mind. Now she realized this was how the Doctor and his companions had mysteriously turned up, then. How had three people traveled in a three foot-square box?

The Doctor had just unlocked the door when the quiet click of a gun being cocked could be heard.

"That's far enough."

Jenny turned to see the man she had tried to escape from earlier, now joined by four other men, all aiming their weapons at her and the Doctor. She looked to him, expecting him to tell them to get out before their weapons cache exploded, but he simply stood there. He pointed his sonic screwdriver inside the TARDIS, activating something, but she couldn't tell what.

"The only place you're going is in a shallow grave," the leader ground out, finger twitching on the trigger.

"Go ahead," the Doctor said. "They'll likely be picking up pieces of you boys for days."

He turned back and entered the TARDIS as the kidnapers rained a hail of bullets on them without any effect, the projectiles bouncing off of the extrapolator shielding. Jenny stood in shock as the bullets bounced off of an invisible barrier, before following him. She looked wide-eyed around the control room as she slowly made her way up the ramp. Her father was already dancing around the console, sending the TARDIS into flight, back to the spaceport. The ship shuddered as she landed, causing Jenny to have to grab the railing to stay upright.

The Doctor pulled the hand brake and turned to look at her, satisfied grin in place.

"So, this is the TARDIS."

She stared at him, "You killed them."

"They had it coming," he replied, frowning.

"So did Cobb," she shot back.

The Doctor dropped her gaze and turned back to the console, "That was different."

"Yeah, Cobb actually _killed_ me!" She stepped up and turned his face towards her, "You told me that once I started killing, it would infect me, eat away at me until there was nothing left. What makes you any different?"

His expression was hard, but Jenny could see something shift in his eyes. The Doctor took a deep breath and looked away.

"Time and again, I save worlds, countless billions of lives, and what do I get in return? I've had to say goodbye to everyone I've ever cared about. More than once. I lose everything, and the universe just stands by and laughs."

Jenny stood there, doing her best not to flinch at the anger that came rolling off of him in waves. The grief she had felt from him at the café earlier was just a shadow compared to the pain that she now saw. However, she could see that he was blinded by the pain.

"All those people that you lost, would you rather that you had never had them to begin with?" she asked softly.

"No," he replied instantly. "No, in fact, I can't imagine what my life would've been like without them. What are you saying? That it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?" he finished sarcastically.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "But if you're better for having known them, isn't that worth it?"

The Doctor's mind drifted back, passing losses and victories, settling on a moment back when he was all leather and ears. All that kept him from destroying the Dalek that had wasted van Statten's bunker was a pink and yellow human.

"_What about you, Doctor? What're you changin' into?"_

He saw Rose's face—a mixture of dismay and confusion with a little fear added in—as he aimed the alien weapon before finally dropping it.

"_Oh, Rose, they're all gone."_

Past and present emotions mingled as his mind flashed forward three years from that point, and he was once again on that god forsaken beach in Norway, himself in pinstripes and the metacrisis in blue.

"_He was born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge. Remind you of someone? That was me when we first met. You made me better. Now you can do the same for him… He needs you, that's very me."_

As much as it hurt, he was a better person for having been with Rose, and he wouldn't trade their short time for anything in the universe. But she was now living a life with the metacrisis, a life he could never give her, even had she stayed. Donna had shown up and convinced him to keep going—even if she didn't realize that was what she had done. He had considered her to be his closest friend, and he had basically killed her. Martha had been there when he needed someone, and she had taken a lot more from him than she should have, by all rights. He still felt a twinge of guilt when he thought about their time together, but he knew she was happy with her life now, and that made it better. There were countless others that he could list, each parting just as painful.

Would avoiding the pain be worth the cost of not having them in his life? No, he decided, the pain was worth it. Each person had played an important part, not just in his life, but in the whole of reality. Twice, Rose had helped him defeat the Daleks. Martha had been key to defeating the Master. Donna saved planets and averted the disaster that would have been Davros' reality bomb. And they had each made him better. So yes, they were worth the pain.

Jenny could see this thought process as he silently stood there. She could see when he came to the conclusion, as painful as it might be. She wrapped her arms around him and he held her tight, burying his face in her hair.

"You still have me," she said softly.

"For now," the Doctor relented, unwilling to allow his hopes to get too high. He pulled back and gave her a smile, "Ready to get your things?"

"Yeah, I am," she replied, returning his smile.

"Right, well, the shuttle should be right outside," he said, pointing to the door.

"Really? We're back at the spaceport?"

"Yep. Brought her back right after we left the warehouse. That thud was the old girl landing."

The TARDIS hummed darkly, annoyed that he would assign any amount of blame to her for his bad driving.

"Sorry," he sheepishly apologized to his ship.

Jenny realized that they were going to have to have a talk about why he kept talking about his ship like it was alive.

"Go on, then," he urged. "Once you're back, we'll have all of time and space at our doorstep."

Jenny cautiously walked over and opened the door. Sure enough, they were parked not ten feet from where the shuttle was docked. Until she had seen it, she hadn't quite believed that they had moved at all. It began to sink in that she was actually going to get to travel with her father. A mad grin spread at that thought as she gathered the last of her things.

Closing the shuttle back up, she slung her bag over her shoulder and ran back to the TARDIS. She closed the door and leaned on them, her excitement a match to the Doctor's.

"I had the TARDIS move a room up so you could unpack your things, if you'd like," he offered.

"Okay, first thing: why do you keep referring to your ship as if it's alive?" she asked, moving up the ramp to the console.

"She is," he defended his companion of seven hundred years. He explained further, "TARDISs weren't built, they're grown. There were some places on Gallifrey where the fields of TARDISs seemed to stretch on for ages. We make a matched pair, the two of us," he finished quietly, lovingly caressing the console, "both orphans of Gallifrey."

"So, what? There were fields of police boxes growing on Gallifrey?" Jenny asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, no, the police box is just a disguise. TARDISs have a chameleon circuit that's designed to change their shape to blend in wherever they land. I landed on Earth in the 1950's, and the circuit fried, so she's been stuck like this ever since. A TARDIS in its natural state looks similar to a colony of coral."

He could see that he was going to have to go steady in his instruction if he wanted her to have a solid grasp of Time Lord knowledge. She may have been created with Gallifreyan DNA, but her mind had been programmed to be human, and he didn't want to overwhelm her.

"Go put your things away, and I'll put her in flight," he gently directed. "The TARDIS moved it right up, so it should be the first door down the hall, but if you ever get lost, just ask her for help, and she'll direct you to where you want to go."

Jenny nodded, and went down the hall leading from the control room. The hall seemed to be made of the same coral-like material as the previous room, and she recalled what the Doctor had said about the TARDIS's natural state resembling coral. She was just about to pass a door when a direct hum stopped her in mid-stride. She realized that it must have been the TARDIS telling her this was her room.

"Thank you?" she asked more than said, and she got a pleasant hum in response. "Guess I better get use to this," she added to herself.

There was an amused hum, and she got the distinct impression that the TARDIS was laughing at her.

The room was modest, minimally furnished, but Jenny had a feeling that that would change as she stayed here. She set her bag on the bed and looked around. There was also a dresser and nightstand, and two doors leading out; one led to a walk-in closet and the other, a bathroom, much more comfortable than the cramped facilities she'd had on the shuttle.

Deciding that unpacking could wait, she set the bag on the dresser and returned to the control room. She once again found the Doctor leaning on the console waiting.

"So, where are we off to?" she asked, bounding up the ramp to join him.

"Your choice. Backward or forward in time?"

"Backward," she said after a second's consideration.

A grin spread across the Doctor's face as he turned back to the controls, setting them for the destination he had in mind, "I know exactly where to go. Earth, twenty-first century. Allons-y!"

He released the handbrake, and the TARDIS shuddered as she set off through the Vortex. Jenny squealed with delight as she held onto the console, watching as he made adjustments to their flight. She really didn't care where they went; she was just excited that she was with him. They were finally getting to see all those other worlds like they had planned.

_Fin._


End file.
